Executive Team

Mike DeLuca

Chief Executive OfficerSVP, Hearst Newspapers

Mike DeLuca joined Hearst and LocalEdge in July 2013. In addition to overseeing strategy and operations at LocalEdge, as SVP of Hearst Newspapers, he guides the overall digital go-to-market strategy for the Hearst Newspapers Division.

DeLuca previously served as chief revenue officer at Savored, which was acquired by Groupon in 2012. At Groupon, DeLuca held the role of VP of sales, and prior to that, he served as senior vice president, sales and operations for AOL Local.

DeLuca is also on the advisory board of Yodle, where he was senior vice president of sales and marketing from 2008 to 2010. He was vice president of sales and account management at Yahoo! from 2003 to 2008, and prior to that, he held various sales and management roles in the storage technology sector.

DeLuca has a bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Jeff Folckemer

President, Affiliate Relations & Technology
SVP, Hearst Newspapers

Jeff Folckemer is responsible for the overall fulfillment of products at LocalEdge and reseller partnership development. Folckemer joined LocalEdge in 1999. Folckemer has held the position of chief information officer in 2004 when the company was acquired by Hearst Corporation. In 2009 he led as President and CEO, introducing an array of internet marketing products as well as developing the Reseller Channel that includes Hearst and non-Hearst media affiliates.

In 2010, Folckemer was named Senior Vice President of Hearst Newspapers. Within his responsibilities, Folckemer works to shape and direct the newspaper division’s efforts to offer digital marketing products and services to its customers. In addition, Folckemer also advises Hearst on strategic investments.
A seasoned executive with a track-record for growing high-tech companies, before joining LocalEdge, Folckemer held positions as Vice President at WebMD as well as Vice President at MedE America. Folckemer is a graduate of Canisius College.

Joel Laffer

Senior Vice President, Product & Marketing VP, Hearst Newspapers

Joel Laffer joined LocalEdge in July 2013 and leads a team responsible for creating, delivering and marketing a powerful suite of local online marketing products and services that helps local businesses of all sizes grow successfully.

Prior to Hearst, Joel was VP of Marketing for Booker, a SaaS platform for service business management, where he led a complete department overhaul that played a strategic role in quadrupling revenue over 18 months. Prior to Booker, he was VP of Marketing for Yodle, the largest local search marketer in the U.S. He was a member of the leadership team that grew the company from $3M of revenue in 2007 to $90M of revenue in 2011. Prior to Yodle, Joel held marketing and product leadership positions at Register.com (recently acquired by Web.com) and FatWire Software (recently acquired by Oracle).

Joel is a graduate from Bloomsburg University with a degree in Advertising.

Ron Merritt

Senior Vice President, Sales & Service

Ron Merritt joined LocalEdge in July 2013 and is responsible for sales strategy and execution. He is also tasked with ensuring clients receive world class service.

Before joining LocalEdge Merritt served as President at Townsquare Media Group as well as VP of sales at Yodle. In both of his previous positions his teams provided online marketing services to small and medium sized businesses.

Merritt has also spent 10+ years in the Yellow Page Industry holding numerous executive positions. His background providing value to clients at online marketing organizations as well as yellow page companies makes him uniquely qualified to lead the sales/service team at LocalEdge.

Ron is a graduate of the University of Maryland – College Park. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, son and daughter.

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